Greek Parliament Ratifies Trans Adriatic Pipeline Intergovernmental Agreement

The Greek Parliament has ratified the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between Albania, Italy and Greece on the construction and operation of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project.

The IGA between the three countries, which was signed in Athens on February 13, 2013, confirms the host countries’ support for TAP and their cooperation for the project’s timely implementation.

Kjetil Tungland, TAP’s Managing Director, said: “We thank the Greek Parliament for this swift ratification process. We maintain our confidence that the excellent collaboration with Greece will continue and that together we will provide Shah Deniz with the most compelling offer.”

TAP reported that is was now working on successfully completing the Host Government Agreement (HGA), which outlines the parameters of engagement between TAP and the Greek Government, such as permitting process, implementation of technical and safety standards and the land easement procedure.

At €1.5bn, TAP would constitute one of the largest current Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Greece and is expected to create 2,000 directly related new jobs and a further 10,000 peripheral new jobs in the Greek market.

TAP is competing to deliver gas from Azerbaijan into Europe, with a final selection of the gas transportation route expected June 2013 by the Shah Deniz consortium in Azerbaijan.

Designed to expand the capacity from 10 to 20 bcm per year, TAP will interconnect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) near the Turkish-Greek border, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea coming ashore in Southern Italy. TAP’s routing can facilitate enabling gas supply to several South Eastern European countries including Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and others.